Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid

(Above: Tom Keesee at Recall Media Group’s “End of year” party)

At Recall Media Group we hire the best of the best, no shortcuts. These are not our employees but our close associates. Everything is open, transparent, and we work as a team, together, building the future.

With that in mind, I asked Tom Keesee, Recall Media Group’s VP Sales and Marketing, to share some of his thoughts on business relations, rapport.

Hope you enjoy. Comments most welcome, highly appreciated!

Dear Sahar,
Thank you, for asking me to contribute a guest blog. As you know, I am extremely excited to be on the front lines for Recall Media Group and FuneralHomes.com. To quote an old song, “the future looks so bright, I gotta wear shades”?.

The Art of Rapport

To many times as “Salesman”? we get caught up in the reality of life, IE car payments, and mortgage payments, relationships both personal and business. Intertwined with “Life”? is our personal quest for “The Holy Grail”?, DISPOSABLE INCOME. The pressure our media driven society places on us to succeed is literally everywhere, fast cars, big boats even bigger homes, and always surrounded by incredibly good looking people, subliminally screaming at you “look be like me”?. Even the most hardened true spirits succumb to this pressure. Case in point; back in the day did you ever believe you would hear Led Zeppelin selling Cadillac’s?

We should never allow reality or media’s version of what our reality should be spill over into our sales life. If we do, we begin to heap loads of additional pressure on our plate and we begin to “press”?, or over sell, in a feeble attempt to control our sales environment and manufacture sales. What inevitably happens is our production suffers. The most damaging byproduct of over selling is, it alters our own perception of reality and we can literally feel “The Holy Grail”? slipping from our grasp, so we “press”? harder. The next thing you know, BAM”Huge Sales Slump”you can’t buy a sale and you’re so broke you can’t even pay attention.

So, the next time you have an off week or two and feel yourself slipping into a production rut, STOP EVERYTHING, TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND RELAX. You have just identified a potential slump and that’s half the battle. The earlier you identify a potential slump the fewer slumps you will have. You will become a consistent producer and in the sales world a consistent producer is a Rock Star. The byproduct of consistency is, DISPOSABLE INCOME, imagine that, “The Holy Grail”?.

The next step is to stop selling, that’s right you heard me STOP SELLING! “START THINKING” RAPPORT”RAPPORT”RAPPORT

START LISTENING to your clients and find common ground. Talk about topics that are of interest to your prospective client, ask personal questions about your prospective client, and truly listen to the answers you are receiving. I promise you; within his or her words are the keys to completing the sale. A prospective client will tell you how to sell them if you listen. Relax make a new friend, engage your prospect, listen, laugh, and most importantly, be yourself.

Physical actions that will assist in gaining rapport are Modeling and Mirroring. Modeling, simply put is; Model your speech patterns and volume levels after your clients. If he or she speaks fast, you speak fast. If he or she speaks softly, you speak softly, and vice versa. Mirroring refers to your client’s body language. If your clients a walker walk with him or her, if he or she sits, you sit, etc. Never mimic, Mirroring and Modeling are an art form. Practice on a family member or better yet, an unsuspecting stranger. See how long it takes that stranger to introduce him or herself to you.

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These mental and physical actions will allow you to gain rapport with your prospective clients. Gaining rapport with your prospective clients will keep you consistently selling.

Remember; People buy from people who are like themselves. People buy from people they like.

Tom Keesee
VP Sales and Marketing
Recall Media Group